Lake Sentani region, West New Guinea (Papua province, Indonesia)
19th century or earlier
Paper mulberry barkcloth, natural dyes
Dimensions: 27½ in × 52 in (69.9 cm × 132.1 cm); framed: 35 in × 58 in (88.9 cm × 147.3 cm)
Provenance: Collection of G.H.R. von Koenigswald; Kunsthandel Klefisch GmbH, Cologne, Germany, May 7, 2007, Lot 229; Ed and Mina Smith Collection, California
Publication: Kultuurpatronen Delft, April 3, 1961, p. 135, fig. 3, Bulletin Ethnografisch Museum Delft; Dr. K.W. Galis, Nogmaals Sentani, Kultuurpatronen Delft, b-11, 1969, p. 78, afb. 13
Among the women of Lake Sentani, the production of barkcloth — beaten from paper mulberry into fine sheets and decorated with painted designs — was central to a woman's identity and a measure of her prestige within the community. The maro, a decorated barkcloth garment or panel, carried both practical and ceremonial significance, and the painted surface designs of Lake Sentani barkcloth are among the most distinctive in the Pacific, their curvilinear patterning documented and analyzed in the ethnographic literature of the region. This example is published twice in the scholarly record, appearing in the Bulletin Etnografisch Museum Delft in 1961 and again in Dr. K.W. Galis's Nogmaals Sentani in 1969, establishing its place within the documented corpus of Lake Sentani barkcloth.
The composition covers the full field of the cloth in a dense, repeating pattern of curvilinear arcs and concentric forms in black outline with orange-red fill against the pale barkcloth ground. G.H.R. von Koenigswald, the paleontologist credited with the discovery of Java Man, assembled a collection that spanned natural history and material culture from across the Indonesian archipelago, and objects from his holdings carry the weight of that breadth of engagement with the region. The piece is presented in a custom archival frame and has passed through a documented German auction and a California private collection since leaving the von Koenigswald estate.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Lake Sentani region, West New Guinea (Papua province, Indonesia)
19th century or earlier
Paper mulberry barkcloth, natural dyes
Dimensions: 27½ in × 52 in (69.9 cm × 132.1 cm); framed: 35 in × 58 in (88.9 cm × 147.3 cm)
Provenance: Collection of G.H.R. von Koenigswald; Kunsthandel Klefisch GmbH, Cologne, Germany, May 7, 2007, Lot 229; Ed and Mina Smith Collection, California
Publication: Kultuurpatronen Delft, April 3, 1961, p. 135, fig. 3, Bulletin Ethnografisch Museum Delft; Dr. K.W. Galis, Nogmaals Sentani, Kultuurpatronen Delft, b-11, 1969, p. 78, afb. 13
Among the women of Lake Sentani, the production of barkcloth — beaten from paper mulberry into fine sheets and decorated with painted designs — was central to a woman's identity and a measure of her prestige within the community. The maro, a decorated barkcloth garment or panel, carried both practical and ceremonial significance, and the painted surface designs of Lake Sentani barkcloth are among the most distinctive in the Pacific, their curvilinear patterning documented and analyzed in the ethnographic literature of the region. This example is published twice in the scholarly record, appearing in the Bulletin Etnografisch Museum Delft in 1961 and again in Dr. K.W. Galis's Nogmaals Sentani in 1969, establishing its place within the documented corpus of Lake Sentani barkcloth.
The composition covers the full field of the cloth in a dense, repeating pattern of curvilinear arcs and concentric forms in black outline with orange-red fill against the pale barkcloth ground. G.H.R. von Koenigswald, the paleontologist credited with the discovery of Java Man, assembled a collection that spanned natural history and material culture from across the Indonesian archipelago, and objects from his holdings carry the weight of that breadth of engagement with the region. The piece is presented in a custom archival frame and has passed through a documented German auction and a California private collection since leaving the von Koenigswald estate.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
